Temperament

Question 1

What are the approaches to temperament?

Answer 1

• Paediatrc approach (Thomas & Chess)
• Personality Tradition (Diamond; Buss & Plomin)
• Individual Differences (Rothbart & Bates)

Question 2

Paediatric approach

Answer 2

•Definition: “Temperament may best be viewed as a general term referring to the how of behavior. It differs from ability, which is concerned with the what and how well of behaving, and from motivation, which accounts for why a person does what he is doing. Temperament, by contrast, concerns the way in which an individual behaves.”

(Thomas & Chess, 1977)

sixties and seventies - trend in behaviourism - positive/negative reinforcement - Thomas and Chess where reacting against. Differences in children already. Not looking at ability or motivation - just what the behaviour is.

PAEDIATRIC APPROACH CONSTITUENTS
•Activity level
•Regularity
•Approach-Withdrawal
•Adaptability
•Threshold of responsiveness
•Intensity of reaction
•Quality of mood
•Distractibility
•Attention Span

Question 3

“Difficult” temperament

Answer 3

Also from Thomas & Chess:
•3-Way typology of children - look up percentages
»Easy
»Difficult (still used today - value-laden; controversial)
»Slow-to-warm-up - 10-15 per cent,
Don’t describe all children - western values

Question 4

Personality Approach

Answer 4

Definition: “We define temperament as a set of inherited personality traits that appear early in life. Thus, there are two defining characteristics. First, the traits are genetic in origin, like other psychological dispositions that are inherited (intelligence, e.g.). Second, the traits appear in infancy – more specifically, during the first year of life – which distinguishes temperament from other groups of personality traits, both inherited and acquired.

(Buss & Plomin, 1987) (following Diamond)

interested in personality of adults - but must start with children.

PERSONALITY TRADITION CONSTITUENTS - EAS
•Emotionality
•Activity (tempo, how easy to settle)
•Sociability (solitary vs group games)

Question 5

Individual differences definition

Answer 5

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
•Definition: “…constitutionally based individual differences in emotional, motor, and attentional reactivity and self-regulation. Temperamental characteristics are seen to demonstrate consistency across situations, as well as relative stability over time.”

(Rothbart & Bates, 1998)

interested in children for children.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES CONSTITUENTS
•Fearful distress/inhibition
•Irritable distress
•Attention span and persistence
•Activity level
•Positive affect/approach
•Rhythmicity
•Agreeableness/adaptability

Question 6

Commonalities and disagreements

Answer 6

COMMONALITIES
•Temperament refers to individual differences rather than normative characteristics.
•Temperament refers to a set of traits, rather than to a trait itself.
•Temperamental dimensions reflect behavioural tendencies that are pervasive across situations, and show some stability over time.
•There is an emphasis on the biological underpinnings of temperament.
•Temperament emerges early in life – perhaps in its purest form. pre-socialisation.

DISAGREEMENTS
•Differing boundaries for temperament.
•Differing constituents
•Relationship between temperament and personality construed differently.

Question 7

GOODNESS/ POORNESS OF FIT

Answer 7

(THOMAS & CHESS)

• Goodness of fit results when the child’s capacities, motivations and temperament are adequate to master the demands, expectations and opportunities of the environment.
• Poorness of fit results when the child’s characteristics are inadequate to master the challenges of the environment, and this leads to maladaptive functioning and distorted development.

difficult - more likely colic, abdominal pain

Question 8

TEMPERAMENT AND ADJUSTMENT

Answer 8

(CASPI ET AL., 1994)

• 800+ NZ children
• Temperament measures at ages 3 and 5: lack of control, approach, sluggishness
• Parent and teacher reports of internalising and externalising behaviour at ages 9, 11, 13 and 15
• Lack of control best predictor, especially of externalising problems (.23, -.37)

flat affect

INTERPRETATIONS
(CASPI ET AL.,1994)

• Stability in children’s behaviour?
• Early individual propensities of children shape subsequent interactions with people, their environment, and these person-environment interactions precipitate problem behaviour.

Question 9

TEMPERAMENT IN CONTEXT.

Answer 9

• Temperament is not meaningful without reference to the social context.
• “Difficult” temperament is associated with poor outcomes in Western societies.
• “Difficult” babies held an evolutionary advantage in the Masai environment under harsh drought conditions

(deVries, 1984).

children that cry and demand - child is fed on demand - so children regulating their own care - “difficult” - nomadic Masai children -
13 /20 followed up because drought hit and the people scattered -
7 had died -
6/7 that had died where “easy” infants -
you need social context

Question 10

TEMPERAMENT AND CULTURE

Answer 10

(CHEN, 2018)

• Differences in cultural values and social attitudes towards temperamental characteristics.
• Super et al. (2008): low approach and adaptability considered more “difficult” in Italian parents vs. Australian and Swedish. in Italy parenting invlved infants in differetn groups and close relationships in the groups so need that adatapbaility
• Garciá Coll et al. (1984): behavioural inhibition linked to mothers’ negative attitudes in Canada but with maternal accepting attitudes (warmer) in China.
• Higher expectations of behavioural control in China and Korea than North America (Chen et al., 2003, Ho, 1986, Zhou et al., 2004).
• Keller et al. (2004) and Kartner et al. (2010)- differences in encouragement of self-control and compliance in four cultures: Rural Cameroonian Nso, Costa Rica, Greek and German.

Question 11

what does a negative correlation mean?

Answer 11

negative correlation just means up in one variable and and down in the other - it’s directional, not lack of correlation